JJ Barea could yam on anybody back in his day.
All 5 feet and 10 inches of him.
That’s how some of his new pupils remember the Nuggets assistant coach, anyway. Never mind that in his 14-year playing career. As an NBA 2K videogame character, the dude could soar.
“I’m not gonna lie. JJ was nice in 2K. Like, oh my gosh,” Denver guard KJ Simpson said Tuesday. “Because they gave him a boost on his hops. I don’t know what it was. His 3-point rating was elite, and he could dunk.”
Fact check, anybody?
“I only dunked in warm-ups,” Barea said, laughing. “I never dunked in a game.”
Maybe being misremembered by the younger generation is simply part of growing older when you’re a retired NBA player. Barea doesn’t mind the video game’s flattering mistake, of course. As long as nobody in the Nuggets’ gym challenges him to dunk now. He’s in his mentoring stage, eager to pass along wisdom this week and next as the head coach of Denver’s Summer League squad. After three days of mini-camp at Ball Arena, he’ll lead the Nuggets to Las Vegas, where they tip off Friday (4:40 p.m. MT) against the Rockets.
“It’s just crazy that he’s my coach now for Summer League, and I used to grow up playing with him on 2K,” Nuggets second-round draft pick Trevon Brazille said. “Full circle.”
“Sniper. He was a sniper on 2K,” added Bryce Hopkins, the team’s other second-rounder.
Brazile, Hopkins and the rest of the Nuggets playing in Vegas will be trying to launch their careers the same way Barea did. Before he was an object of their admiration on 2K, he was an undrafted and undersized guard biding time in Puerto Rico, his home. He played for the Cangrejeros de Santurce out of college.
“All I wanted was an invite for Summer League,” he said, “so I told my agent, just get me an invite. I wanted to see for myself if I could play in the NBA or not.”
The Warriors and Mavericks invited him in 2006. He averaged 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and two steals at his first Summer League, playing 21 minutes per game. “I couldn’t believe I was there,” he said. “I was just like, what is this? It was so fast. I didn’t do good.”
But he made enough of an impression to get signed by Dallas, which became his NBA home. Working his way up through the D League, he appeared in 33 NBA games as a rookie and returned to Summer League with more confidence in 2007. He averaged 16 points and seven assists as a second-timer. He was off and running. Four years later, he was a folk hero in Dallas.
“I’ve been in these kids’ position,” Barea said. “I’m trying to help them out as much as I can in Summer League so they can have a good Summer League, (so) they can get jobs, they can get contracts and they can help the Denver Nuggets out. … I told them don’t take nothing for granted, you know? There’s a million kids in the world that want to be here, that want to play in Summer League, that want to try for the NBA to see them. So take every game, every opportunity and take advantage of it.”
Both 2026 Nuggets draftees are 23 years old. Simpson, who joined the team on a two-way contract last season, turns 24 next month. They were all 8 when Barea’s Mavericks upset Miami to win the 2011 championship. Barea had started only twice that regular season, but Dallas moved him into the starting lineup in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. He started the last three games, all wins, matching up on LeBron James and scoring 17 points in a pivotal Game 5.
“Obviously, I know his history and past in the league,” Simpson said. “To be able to learn from him, he’s been excellent. Great guy and great coach. I pick his brain, ask as many questions as I can.”
“He’s an intense coach, but in a good way,” Brazille said. “He knows the game (like) crazy. He was out there drawing up stuff. … Really good mind. Excited to be around him.”
Barea, who’s 42 now, hopes to learn from the experience as well, as both a leader and play-caller. He collaborates with head coach David Adelman on Denver’s offense as part of his regular job during the season. He’s still taking his first steps as a front-of-bench NBA assistant. He told The Post last year that one of his career ambitions is to be the head coach for the Puerto Rican national team someday.
In the meantime, “I’ve still gotta find that out, what kind of coach I am,” he says.
He has the Nuggets’ ears, regardless of which style he adopts over the next two weeks. They’ll listen to any advice a 2K legend has to impart.
